Why the Ducks are kings of the road

Why the Ducks are kings of the road

NHL teams learn about themselves at home and prove themselves on the road.

The Anaheim Ducks have re-established their might with a gritty showing on an eight-game road trip that ends tonight against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden (NBC Sports Network, 7:30 p.m.)

After losing the first two games on the trip and being outscored 8-3, the Ducks pulled themselves together and went 4-0-1 in their next five games. If they can beat a hot Rangers team tonight (Rangers captain Ryan Callahan is returning from a broken thumb), they would have earned 11 out of 16 points on this trip.

An eight-game road trip represents almost 10% of the Ducks’ season and they have found a way to grind out three one-goal victories. The Rangers understand how difficult that can be because they went 3-6 on a nine-game road trip to start the season.

If the Ducks earn one point tonight, they will move ahead of the San Jose Sharks atop the most competitive division in the NHL.

Why the Ducks are flirting with first place in the Pacific Division:

Stars being stars

Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are delivering offensively the way they are expected to play. They have combined for 13 points over the past five games.

Minor trade, major consequences

The Ducks’ acquisition of Mathieu Perreault (for a fourth-round pick and John Mitchell) from the Washington Capitals has been a big deal.

He has 13 points in 14 games, helping provide offense for team that lost Matt Beleskey, Jakob Silfverberg, Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne to injury.

Rookies on the blue line

With Sheldon Souray and Luca Sbisa out with long-term injuries, Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen have stepped in and gotten the job done.

Lindholm is plus 11 averaging 19:25 per game. Vatanen is plus-3 playing about 18 minutes per game.

Secondary scoring of primary importance

The Ducks have a solid collection of players who can chip in goals, including Nick Bonino, Andrew Cogliano, Emerson Etem and Kyle Palmieri, etc.

I found this on FTW and wanted to share:
%link%
For more great sports stories ...
*visit For The Win: https://www.ftw.usatoday.com
*follow @ForTheWin: https://www.twitter.com/forthewin
*like FTW on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usatodayftw